Hey Chris -<div><br></div><div>I've worked on projects with & without dedicated QA and have always been thankful to have them around. If you put some effort into collaborating with them, they can be invaluable in finding issues for which developers have a blind spot. </div>
<div><br></div><div>I'd encourage you to spend time using the app together and talking about the problems you see, not only when they just get started, but also occasionally thereafter. It's important to make them feel they have partners in the process.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Here are some other things I've found helpful for QA</div><div><br></div><div>- Actually make QA staff responsible for <i>quality. </i>QA can be a very unrewarding job when it's just about finding bugs or determining whether the app meets spec. Those are aspects of quality, but they are not the full picture. Grant them purview to say things like "this flow doesn't really make sense - I think there's room for improvement". Give them authority to reject work based on such higher-level problems. You'll get a happier and more deeply involved partner in quality.</div>
<div><br></div><div>- Involve them at the beginning of the feature development process. Include them in early planning discussions, even for provisional features that might never get built. Understanding the history of how a feature came to exist will contribute to meaningful testing. Additionally, full-cycle involvement will make QA staff feel like true team participants.</div>
<div><br></div><div>- Throughout the development lifecycle, I and the other engineers on the project spend dedicated time during the workday using the app. This is time that we would otherwise spend coding, and it's in addition to the application usage that occurs naturally as part of building features. About a half hour per engineer per week can get very good results. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Good luck!</div><div><br></div><div>JB</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 11:13 PM, Chris Adams <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:chrisdaggimoh@gmail.com" target="_blank">chrisdaggimoh@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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Hi guys,
</div><div><br></div><div>We're looking into hiring a tester to work with us in on a project we've been building for the last 6 weeks or so, to help catch bugs and issues before they make it to production on a Rails app we're working on at AMEE.</div>
<div><br></div><div>We're working on an app that's fairly well protected by tests, but has a few complex ajax interactions that keep catching us off guard as we develop, so we're looking for someone who is particularly good at ferreting out these kinds of issues.</div>
<div><br></div><div>The app is pretty small, so I assume we'd be looking for someone who might be available on a freelance basis. </div><div><br></div><div>However, I haven't really worked with dedicated testers before, so this is fairly new territory for me - does anyone on list have any recommendations of people you've worked with, or any advice on working with testers like above?</div>
<div><br></div><div>Thanks,</div><div><br></div><div>Chris</div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div><br></div><div><br></div>
<div><div><br></div>-- <br>Chris Adams<br>mobile: 07074 368 229<div>skype: chris.d.adams</div><div>twitter: mrchrisadams</div><div>web: <a href="http://chrisadams.me.uk" target="_blank">http://chrisadams.me.uk</a><br>
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